Dodgers

There is no doubt in Tom Lasorda's mind: Mike Piazza belongs in baseball's Hall of Fame. “Absolutely,” said Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager. “He has more home runs than any catcher in the history of the game. He has a lifetime batting average over .300.” However, when the 2013 Hall of Fame election results are revealed Wednesday, there's a significant possibility Piazza won't receive the percentage of votes required to gain entry into baseball's most exclusive fraternity.

Hanley Ramirez was smiling Sunday. Clayton Kershaw wasn't. Whereas Ramirez was able to pinch-hit a day after he bruised his surgically repaired right thumb, Kershaw was informed by the Dodgers he would pitch in another minor league game before making his return from the disabled list. Asked whether he was fine with the team's decision, Kershaw replied, "Not really. " Sidelined because of a strained back muscle, Kershaw hasn't pitched for the Dodgers since the their season opener in Australia on March 22. Kershaw wanted to pitch for the Dodgers on Wednesday in Minnesota.

Chris Paul went to see the Dodgers' home opener Friday afternoon and got what has become his regular treatment when he visits Dodger Stadium. Paul was booed by the Dodgers faithful yet again. Yes, Paul plays for the Clippers and has them on the brink of accomplishing some big things. But, as Paul has said before and said again Saturday at practice, this is a Lakers town. So when they showed Paul's face on the video board before the game against the hated San Francisco Giants, the All-Star point guard was treated like he was a member of the Giants.

Clayton Kershaw likes to win. He's absolutely used to winning, as his two Cy Young awards attest. Yet he lost one battle Sunday, without ever taking the mound. The Dodgers brought down the hammer, telling Kershaw that despite his campaigning otherwise , he will make another rehab start before rejoining the rotation. And don't think for a moment the competitive Kershaw was happy about it. “Not really, but I did the best I could,” Kershaw said. “But I'm not going to fight the team if everybody doesn't want me to do something.

Seems like a simple enough question. Seems like a pretty basic one. Like one the new owners would want to answer, what with the fans having just been dragged through an ownership nightmare. Alas, at their morning press conference Wednesday it wasn't happening. Guggenheim Baseball Management is the new owner of the Dodgers. After that, it's fill in the blanks. As if you could. At least for now. Six individuals were introduced at the press conference, but exactly who owns how much of the team was left unanswered.

He first appears in the movie as he first appeared with the Dodgers, a wallflower pulled reluctantly into the spotlight, a nerd suddenly tapped on the shoulder by the cool kids. The character that is supposed to be Paul DePodesta is a rumpled and bespectacled figure leaning against a wall whispering trade vetoes to a Cleveland Indians colleague. The character that is supposed to be Billy Beane openly wonders who he is, and why everyone thinks he's so smart, and so begins a journey that Dodgers fans will instantly and painfully recognize.

We recently asked you to list your choices for the 10 greatest Dodgers of all time, and vote you did, as we received an amazing 12,231 ballots. So many people voted that we have decided to expand the list from the top 10 to the top 20. Each weekday at 11 a.m. PDT, a new person will be listed as we count down all 20. Remember, any Dodger, Brooklyn or L.A., was eligible, including managers, owners, announcers, etc. Points were assigned based on where you listed the person on the ballot.

The L.A. Dodgers have been getting all the ink, but they aren't the only recent acquisition by Chicago financier Mark Walter. They're not even the most important, at least not from John Penn's perch at the old Grubstake Building in downtown Crested Butte, Colo. Ask Penn about "the new owner" and he'll be talking landlords, not baseball. Last year, Walter bought the building that houses Penn's tobacco shop, a Nepalese restaurant and an art-glass gallery in the ski resort.

LA JOLLA — The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry, which separates San Diego County from neighboring Tijuana, is the world's most congested border checkpoint, with armed federal officers from two countries and drug-sniffing dogs moving between long lines of cars. For some, it's a symbol of division. For Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, it's a bridge linking the places that shaped him as a ballplayer and person. Born in the United States to Mexican parents, Gonzalez is fluent and literate in English and Spanish, having been raised on both sides of the border in a blend of the cultures.

Hanley Ramirez was walking around the Dodgers clubhouse before Sunday's game with lighted incense, almost like Pedro Cerrano in the “Major League” movies trying a little voodoo to turn things around. The problem with Ramirez is his sore thumb, not hitting a curveball. And the Dodgers, uncertain how quickly he will r espond from Saturday's injury and how it might affect his throwing, called up infielder Carlos Truinfel on Sunday and optioned reliever Jose Dominguez back to triple-A Albuquerque.

Matt Kemp woke up Sunday morning to suddenly find himself linked to the Donald Sterling scandal, as TMZ released another audio clip said to be of the Clippers owner speaking to his girlfriend. In the recording, the man purported to be Sterling voices displeasure about the woman's Instagram pictures of her with African Americans, including Kemp. “Racism is kind of old, for real,” Kemp said. “Honestly, I just feel sorry for him, that he feels that way about African American people.” Kemp is friends with Clippers players Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.

Hyun-Jin Ryu must not like Los Angeles or Dodger Stadium or organist Nancy Bea Hefley. He can't get it going here this season. Away from Dodger Stadium, he's a regular road warrior (3-0, 0.00 earned-run average). At home, he's not even a regular Joe (0-2, 11.08). This strange Jekyll and Hyde routine continued Sunday afternoon, with Ryu giving up six runs in his five-plus innings, leaving the Dodgers 6-1 losers to the Rockies and stuck on 9,999 franchise wins. The Dodgers finished 4-6 on their 10-game homestand, and after a day off Monday open a nine-game road trip Tuesday in Minnesota.

Matt Kemp suddenly found himself linked to the Donald Sterling scandal Sunday. In the hours leading up to the Dodgers' 6-1 defeat by the Colorado Rockies, the celebrity gossip site TMZ released a second audio recording of what was said to be a conversation between the Clippers owner and a woman described in court filings as his girlfriend. The female voice in the recording promised to remove from her Instagram account a picture of her with Kemp. On a recorded conversation released earlier, a man identified as Sterling chided a female friend for "associating with black people.

ON THE MOUND: Hyun-Jin Ryu had another rough day at Dodger Stadium. The left-hander was charged with six runs and nine hits over five innings. Ryu is 0-2 with an 11.08 earned-run average at Dodger Stadium. On the road, he is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. AT THE PLATE: Dee Gordon collected two more hits, raising his average to .353. He also stole his 13th base, which leads the major leagues. Gordon put the Dodgers in front, 1-0, in the first inning when he scored on a single by Adrian Gonzalez.

Certainty isn't normally a part of the injury business, unless of course it's determined you need to go under the knife. Each injury tends to take its own path -- short, long, unexpected turns, easy, tough. Hanley Ramirez has a thumb injury , and apparently it's not serious. He came out of Saturday's game after the third inning with a sore right thumb, which is scary since he had surgery on the same thumb before the start of last season. The X-rays were negative; the Dodgers called it a bruise and said he was day to day. Everyone exhaled.

The Dodgers and Boston Red Sox have completed a blockbuster trade in which four-time All-Star Adrian Gonzalez lands in Los Angeles, the latest example of the Dodgers' new ownership group investing heavily in a win-now approach. Even though the possibility had been hinted at in recent days -- and was all but finished by game time Friday night -- the acquisition by the Dodgers of the Red Sox first baseman was a stunning development. The deal: The Dodgers acquired Gonzalez, pitcher Josh Beckett, injured outfielder Carl Crawford and utilityman Nick Punto in exchange for first baseman James Loney and four prospects.

Ah, a debate! How exciting is that? Two sides with divergent opinions, both feeling strong about their position, both confident about what should happen next. The issue? The next step in the comeback of Clayton Kershaw. And it's the team's medical staff vs. … Clayton Kershaw? “There's been a small debate going on,” said Manager Don Mattingly. Kershaw made his first rehab appearance since going on the disabled list for the first time with a strained upper back muscle on Friday, needing only 56 pitches in five innings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.

Last season Adrian Gonzalez would dismiss it, acting completely unimpressed by his power displays despite leading the Dodgers with 22 home runs. Seems he's going to need a new approach for 2014. Gonzalez made his 1,500th career hit Saturday night memorable, driving it out for a home run in the Dodgers' 6-3 victory over the Rockies before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 45,241. On a night when shortstop Hanley Ramirez was giving them a scare when he left the game with an injured thumb and starter Paul Maholm was turning in a top-notch outing on the mound, Gonzalez hit his eighth home run of the season.